Sermon: The Smell of Love (April 3, 2021)

View full service HERE. Sermon begins at 34:30.

Lent 5C
April 3, 2022
John 12:1-8

INTRODUCTION

Next week is the start of Holy Week, and our Gospel readings also bring us right up against that last week of Jesus’ life. Context is everything for today’s reading, which jumps back into John’s Gospel after several weeks in Luke. Right before today’s story, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. This event was so shocking that, according to John, it was the impetus for wanting to kill both Jesus AND Lazarus. Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha, in whose house we now find ourselves. Just after this story, just as in our church year, John takes us to Palm Sunday, and Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and not long after that will be Maundy Thursday, when Jesus will be the one kneeling at the disciples’ feet, washing them and wiping them with the towel around his waist. Mary’s actions today foreshadow this event – and just as Jesus’ act of footwashing is an act of love for neighbor, Mary’s is an act of love for Jesus. Context is everything for this story!

In the other readings, we will hear about God providing water in a dry land, and in both Isaiah and the Psalm, this is likely referring to the way God restored the exiles. In both the Hebrew Bible and in Philippians, we’ll hear again about how God is doing a new thing – a theme we hear often and most profoundly, of course, on Easter in just a couple weeks! (Spoiler alert!) As you listen, notice the ways God is doing a new thing in your life, giving water where there was dryness, freedom where there was captivity, and love where there was skepticism. Let’s listen.

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At the end of a Lenten series where we have explored how God is here with us in whatever places we find ourselves, today, on this last Sunday before Holy Week, we’re going to immerse ourselves in the place where God is. That is, we’re going to go and observe this strange encounter between Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and Jesus.

…

It was a dinner “party,” but I’ll be honest, it was tense. Perhaps on the surface, to an outside observer, is seemed ordinary enough – Martha bustling away in the kitchen, Jesus reclining, idle chatter all around, mostly discussing the upcoming Passover, now just six days away… But we all knew just how much there was going on behind the scenes. For example, there across the table from Jesus was Lazarus. Not too long ago? Lazarus died. I mean, the guy was dead, for four days. There was weeping and mourning and the guy stank of death. And Jesus… brought him back to life. Let me say that again: Jesus brought a dead man back to life. It was as dramatic as it sounds, and though you may think everyone was happy and excited about such a thing, that was not the case. Even those of us who follow Jesus were fairly terrified about this. We didn’t know what to make of it. And that’s to say nothing of Lazarus – as you can imagine, the guy was never the same. He barely spoke now, and his face looked constantly confused, as if he wasn’t exactly sure where he was, or why, always looking off at something in the distance that no one else could see. Still, his sisters were delighted to have him back, and that was why we were all gathered in their house: they felt that, after Jesus brought their brother back, they’d like at least to offer him a meal! 

Well, that was part of it, at least. But there was another, unspoken part. You see, both Lazarus and Jesus were in grave danger. After Jesus raised Lazarus, there were rumors that Caiaphas, the high priest, had it out for them both. In fact, Caiaphas had prophesied that “one man should die for the people” and that that one man, was Jesus. And, they said that anyone who knew anything about Jesus’ whereabouts, should turn him in. You can imagine our shared anxiety level!

Now, Jesus is one of the gutsiest guys I know, but he’s no fool. Having heard these rumors, he knew he had to keep a low profile, staying in nearby Ephraim, away from Jerusalem. We all wondered whether he would go to Jerusalem to purify for the Passover like usual, or frankly if he’d go to Jerusalem at all, knowing how dangerous it was. In fact, even this dinner party in Bethany was pushing it – we were less than two miles from Jerusalem! 

So yeah, like I said, tensions were high. We had the formerly dead man (who still kind of stank from his time in the grave), and the death threats, and if I’m honest, the sinking fear that one of would crack, and be the one to give Caiaphas what he wanted: to arrest Jesus and kill him. I didn’t want to believe it, but I’m just saying, that fear was also in the mix.

Martha was busy in the kitchen. Dinner would be ready soon, and what a nice respite that would be. Our tummies growled – hiding from the authorities was not for the faint of heart, and we were, despite everything, looking forward to a warm meal. 

But then, things got weird. 

Mary had always seemed a bit… much. Martha – she was stable, reliable, diligent. But Mary was always… so deeply emotional. We could never be sure what was coming next with her. And this night was no exception. As we made small talk, suddenly, Mary stood up and let down her hair. This in itself was strange, because we Jews see a woman’s hair as quite alluring, and for her to do this in a house full of men she is not related to was, well, it was a bit shocking! But then, it got even stranger. With great determination, she retrieved a large, sealed container from a shelf, and broke open the seal. Immediately, the smell of perfume filled the house. Not just any perfume – this was good stuff, pure nard, not mixed with anything else. If I had to guess, a year’s wages might just about cover the cost of such a perfume! She walked back to where Jesus was reclining and knelt at his feet. We all gasped as she poured the perfume on his feet. 

Her face shone with love – it genuinely glowed! Jesus’ face, too, softened at her touch, as she used her long, dark hair to rub the ointment into his skin. 

I had the sense that we were being drawn into a place almost other-worldly, a place of warmth, a place that felt almost electric, even as it felt like the safest place I’d ever been. Strange as it was, the room felt like we were all being bathed in love.

The room was silent, though the smell alone was more than enough to compensate – it was so potent it filled not only our noses, but every other sense as well! We could practically see and hear and touch this smell, the smell of Mary’s love for Jesus! It was as if the scent of the perfume found its way into every crevice, every pore, every heart. 

At the other end of the table, I caught a glimpse of Lazarus. The faraway look on his face had disappeared. He was as fully present in this moment as I’d ever seen him. He looked now as if he had arrived at that place he was always looking toward. He was here. 

Finally, Judas’ voice broke the silence. “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor?” The question hung there for a moment, dragging us back toward reality, as we continued to try to take in what was happening. Myself – I… I was torn. I consider myself to be quite a practical person, not one to waste. And in that sense, Judas was absolutely right. I certainly didn’t want to be the one to say it, and coming from Judas I admit it came out like a sneer (he always seemed to have an edge to him, like he had something to prove). And yet, I somehow knew that this act of Mary’s was too important to even be compared to practicality. It was so much deeper than that. And though I knew in my head that Judas was correct, that this was a complete and utter waste… my heart understood it differently. My heart knew that no act of love is a waste. While my head told me that moderation is good, my heart reminded me that Jesus has no thought toward scarcity or moderation – from the beginning of his ministry, he had been about excessive and even reckless abundance! Do you remember hearing about that wedding we went to? The one where he changed water into wine? He could have gotten his point across by changing one jug, or even one cup of water into wine, but no – he turned 6 jugs into wine! He could have gotten to Lazarus soon enough to heal him of his illness, but why heal a man when you can raise him from the dead? 

And now Mary seemed to really get it: why use a dab of perfume, when you can use the whole pound? Why love a little, when you can love with everything you have and everything you are? Why be moderate, careful, and reserved, when you can love extremely enough to fill every corner of a room, leaving everyone in the room with the lingering scent of love on their skin for days to come?

And that of course is exactly what happened. Not so long after that, as you know, Jesus was turned over to the authorities by the same one who had questioned that love, and he was crucified. And as he stood before Pilate, as he was nailed to the cross, and as he was laid in the grave, he still smelled of that abundant love. As he met a different Mary in the garden that Sunday morning, he still smelled, not of death, but of love. As he met us in the upper room, the essence and scent of love still surrounded him, bringing peace and joy to his terrified friends.

There is a place for practicality. I know that. But that day in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, we all caught a glimpse of God’s very kingdom: a place where joy and love are impossible to measure, where abundance overcomes moderation, where the greatest good is simply to love the Lord with all that you have and all that you are. That is life in Christ.

Let us pray… Abundant God, we try to be careful, reserved, cautious. But you call us to be reckless in our love, to offer it – to you and to our neighbor – with all that we have and all that we are. Make us brave enough and vulnerable enough to love in this way. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.